Various performance improvements are required of current pneumatic tires, and tires are equipped with tread patterns in order to achieve these performance enhancements. In a case of a heavy duty tire, tread patterns are provided in such a way as to achieve enhanced traction performance.
For example, a heavy duty pneumatic tire designed to achieve good traction characteristics while running on rough roads and wet performance during high-speed traveling in a compatible manner, until the terminal stage of wear is known (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H09-136514A). In the heavy duty pneumatic tire, the pneumatic tire is equipped with at least one circumferential groove that extends in a circumferential direction, and a plurality of lateral grooves that connect in the circumferential direction, and are disposed spaced apart in the circumferential direction to either side of the circumferential groove, wherein                (1) the circumferential groove extends in the circumferential direction in a tread central region that corresponds to 50% of the tread width;        (2) a depth of the circumferential groove is 5% of the tread width or greater; and        (3) a depth of at least lateral grooves disposed in both side sections of the tread among the lateral grooves is 109% of the depth of the circumferential groove or greater.        
It is asserted that, in this manner, good traction characteristics while running on rough roads and wet performance during high-speed traveling can be achieved and enhanced in a compatible manner.
With the heavy duty pneumatic tire described above, while the traction characteristics in the terminal stage of wear can be enhanced, heel and toe wear is prone to occur in the tread center region, prior to reaching the terminal stage of wear. Heel and toe wear is one type of abnormal wear, in which the amount of wear in edge portions of the blocks located on both sides of the tire circumferential direction of the lug grooves differ to either side of the lug groove, forming unevenness.